Sorry for the long wait on this. I just haven't A) Had much time, and B) Really wanted to write.

But, here it is now: Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Carry On

"There we go," Qrow sighed, relieved. "That should staunch the bleeding after a while." He sat back, hands drenched in red, and watched Ruby for a moment. His assistant, Jaune, wiped his brow.

"Is she gonna be alright?" Jaune asked. Qrow glared at him, still angry with the other man. "Well… it's just… uh, never mind, sir."

"She'll be fine," Qrow answered, his voice carrying an edge to it. "But that Tyrian, he won't be. Even if he survives his wounds from this fight, I'm gonna make sure to kill him next time I see him."

Ren and Nora sat off to the side of the temporary camp that the group had erected, out in the woods a little ways from the town. Both of them had been watching worriedly as Qrow and Jaune patched up Ruby's leg, neither of them having said a word the entire time it was happening. Nora broke the silence, "Do you think she'll… ya know?"

Ren grimaced, "Die?" Nora shook her head, worry written in her expression. Ren sighed. "I don't know then."

"She'll be fine," Qrow repeated adamantly, as though he was trying to reassure himself. "As soon as the bleeding stops, I can take a look at the wound."

Ren whispered quietly to Nora, "I think he's in shock. That guy's arm was in her." Nora winced, remembering the sight of the bladed gauntlets poking through the back of the young girl's leg.

Jaune spoke up, "But you still haven't told us: Why was he after Ruby? Who was he?"

Qrow sighed, "You're right, I haven't. But I'd prefer to tell Kiddo along with the rest of you. For now, just make sure we don't get snuck up on."

Jaune relented, standing up and walking over to a tree, where he sat back down facing Ruby. Qrow picked her up and set her next to the fire. "Just keep warm, Ruby." He sat back again, accidentally knocking his flask onto its side, spilling its contents out. But Qrow didn't take his eyes off of Ruby, like he was afraid she'd disappear the second he did.

Several hours passed, and Ren, Nora, and Jaune had all fallen asleep. The sun started to crest the horizon, casting a long shadow across their campsite. The fire, thanks to Qrow's continual efforts, was still blazing high, which no doubt was helpful to Ruby.

Qrow himself was still watching Ruby, as attentively as hours before. A light breeze blew through the campsite, and Qrow's hand flew to his blade. He relaxed it after a moment, sighing. "Come on, Kiddo. Just wake up already." He leaned back against the log behind him. He muttered to himself, "This is why I stayed away…"

Soon enough, the other three students began to stir. Ren was first, cautiously watching Nora as he sat up. He glanced over at Ruby, noticing Qrow in the same position he had been in the previous night. Ren frowned, wondering why the fire was still so high. He supposed Qrow must have taken care of it during his watch.

Jaune and Nora were up not long after him. Nora stretched her arms over her head and out to her sides, yawning heavily. Jaune got up immediately, and headed over to Ruby. Right as he passed Qrow, the huntsman reacted on instinct, pointing his sword straight at Jaune's neck. "Oh, it's you," Qrow muttered, lowering his sword.

"Anything?" Jaune asked desperately. Qrow shook his head, and Jaune sighed, looking down at Ruby with eyes full of worry. "She'll be ok, right?"

"Yeah. She's tough; she'll pull through alright," Qrow reassured him. "She just might take while to wake up. It took us too long to stop the bleeding."

Jaune dropped onto a log, arms resting on his legs, "But how long will it take? Should we keep going to Haven or wait for her to recover?"

"I guess," Qrow sighed, rubbing his temples. "We should get to Haven first. They'll have advanced medical equipment there, as well." He stood up, glancing around. He strode over to the pile of wood he had gathered, and grabbed two long, sturdy-looking branches. He turned back to Jaune, throwing them to him. "She won't be happy about it, but I need you to make a stretcher out of her hood. I can't carry her in my arms the whole time, not if we need to fight."

Ren and Nora had gathered their packs, and walked up next to Jaune. Ren grabbed one of the branches, "I'll help you."

"Good. It'll go better if you two carry her and let me take the lead," Qrow said, turning away. "Make it quick. If you want to get to Mistral before Salem's lackeys, then we'll need to hurry." He began to walk away, back towards the path. Jaune and Ren quickly tied parts of Ruby's cloak to the branches, and laid her gently on it. Nora followed Qrow, with Ren and Jaune just behind her, carrying Ruby.

"So, we need to get all the way to Mistral?" Melissa questioned, looking over the documents and the map once again.

"Yes, Melissa, we do," Troy answered. "It shouldn't take too long. We'll get there in less than a week, if we keep a good pace." He turned back forward, staring down the long road to the mountains. It had only been three days since their very close escape from the White Fang compound, and he was still very on edge. Every noise he heard sounded like the Fang was about to pounce on them, at least to Troy.

Melissa was much more at ease, given that they had already escaped from the Fang twice, even once while being close to cut in half by a chainsaw. So, she wasn't worried about being caught or ambushed. That said, she hadn't lowered her guard, either. Her hand was ready to jump to her weapon at a moment's notice.

The Grimm hadn't been idle, either. They had already seen a small pack of Beowolves, but the Grimm hadn't noticed them. At least, not at first. Still, seven Beowolves weren't much of a challenge, even to those with little training. They dispatched them quickly.

By now, Melissa and Troy seemed accustomed to the dangers of the wilderness, or at least the common ones like Grimm attacks and Fang Patrols. Unfortunately, the Dust that Melissa had brought along, nearly all of her Ice and Burn Dust, was running low. While not a huge issue, it would make it more difficult to fight off any hostile attacks without Dust at their disposal.

However, that wasn't a terrific concern of theirs at the moment. The more pressing matter was their food situation. They had none left, and all the forests around the area seemed to be bare of any wildlife. They had both finished off the last of the meat hours ago, and Troy was beginning to feel hunger start to gnaw at him again.

"We need to find a deer, or maybe a chicken," he muttered. Melissa raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, yes, a wild chicken in the forest. I think we'd be better off trying to find a rabbit, or a nearby town."

"I suppose. Still, I don't remember if there are any around here."

"Then let's just teleport to the mountain."

"If we do that, I'll be completely drained."

"Yeah, but we could rest after that. Or I could look around and find food for us."

Troy sighed, looking off at the distant mountain. He turned to Melissa and held out his hand, "Alright, fine. We'll try it your way."

Melissa grinned, and took his hand. A second later, and following an unfamiliar warping feeling, Melissa found herself skidding along the dirt road, flat on her back. She slammed against a wooden railing on the side of the road, stopping her in her tracks. She raised her head, ready to question Troy, only to see that he wasn't there. She cocked her head, confused by his disappearance. They had teleported together, so they ought have shown up in the same place.

"Troy?" she called. She looked around, taking note of the fact that, yes, they had teleported to the foot of the mountain. She got to her feet, and dusted herself off. She frowned, wondering where in the hell Troy had ended up.

Suddenly, the air in front of her fractured, and twisted into a spiral. Troy fell out of what looked like broken air, smoke curling off of him. "Troy!" she yelled, running over to him. "Troy, what happened?" He didn't respond, and Melissa frowned again. "Troy?" She put her fingers on the side of his neck, checking his pulse. He had one, but it was faint. And as far as she could tell, he either wasn't breathing or was barely breathing. "Shit… Shit shit shit…" Thinking quickly, she grabbed his arm, and wrapped it around her shoulder. She stood, bringing Troy with her.

Melissa looked up the mountain, then back at Troy, "Sorry, Troy. But we've gotta get over this thing." She began to float, feeling Troy's weight completely on her shoulders. "Oof… God, you're heavy." She climbed higher, and started moving forward as well. The climb was slow, given that she wasn't used to carrying someone with her. "Just stay with me, Troy… Just stay with me…" As Melissa felt the air get thinner, she lowered herself back down to a safer level. She needed to keep Troy breathing easily. His pulse was getting weaker and weaker. She wasn't sure what the issue was, either. Chance was, he had 'drained' himself, whatever he had actually meant by that.

"Just keep on breathing… Just keep on going…" Melissa reached the ground of the mountain, but there was still about a hundred meters to go upwards. She glanced at Troy, worried about him not being able to breathe. "Ok… Ok… Let's do this!" She surged forward, moving up the trail as quickly as possible. "Come on, come on."

Halfway to the top, Troy started coughing ferociously. Melissa glanced at him, but kept going. If he was coughing, he had air. She crested the hill, and saw that it was a very gradual slope back to the bottom of the mountain. "Just bear with me, ok?" Melissa mumbled, though she wasn't sure if it was to herself or Troy.

At the bottom, she could make out a small house, with smoke coming out of the chimney. She smiled with relief. "You see that Troy? You'll be ok!" Troy had stopped coughing, and his breathing was getting slower and slower. Melissa turned back to the trail, and began to descend. With luck, she'd be able to get help in time.

On a tall hill, in the highest tree, a man, cloaked in purple, gazed out2 over the sea from his perch on a thick branch. His focus was on an island in the distance. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. To himself, he muttered, "Soon… I'll get my answers from you." He dropped from the tree, and a gust of wind blew from behind him, helping launch him towards the ocean.

Right, sorry for the short chapter. But I felt that it had taken long enough to write this small amount. I don't know what it is, but I haven't been that interested in writing recently. I think I'm getting back into it, but just bear with me. I should have another chapter of Remnants of Shinobi ready soon. So, soon.

Also, not dead.

Until Chapter 28!